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Re: The Universal Life Church Is Not a Scam!

TerryP (post 125?; 05/10/10): "Doing what is right is the truth."
Does that include Catholic Inquisitions or is it limited to Protestant witch-hunts, Native American genocide & holocausts?

TerryP: "The Bible proves that God exists."The Koran proves that Allah exists. The Mahabharata proves that Lord Krishna &co exists. Lord of the Rings proves that elves exists. And my Runes, as well as week day names, certainly certify that Odin/Wooten and Thor are absolutely I-T!

TerryP: "The mind is capable of discerning the truth."
I thought no one could come to God except they were called by Christ -- before Adam. We did not call him but he called us, lest we should boast. Those He predestined (before Adam), He foreknew, those He foreknew He graced.... If those of Sodom & Gomorrah had heard what Jesus contemporaries were hearing, they would have believed. Then why weren't they told? (BTW, read Jesus' explanation to the disciples on his use of parables, all of which He had to explain IN PRIVATE to them.)

TerryP: Theologians have determined that that the Bible is the truth by studying the original text.

Theologians? What kind? American Baptists, General Baptists, Northern Baptists, Southern Baptists, 7th Day Baptists? United Methodists, Free Methodists, Methodist Episcopalian? Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Coptic, Russian Orthodox. No, we have to go back even before the Orthodox/Catholic schism. (c. 1092)
Roman Catholic Theologians. The (Christian) Church Fathers. The ones who brought us Marian Theology, Transubstantiation and a forma, post-Paulinel Sainthood hierarchy. Oh, yeah. Sex is a no-no, guilt/shame with a proper confessional rite to lessen it and several non-biblical concepts like "immortal soul". (Go ahead TP, look it up on blueletterbible or any of your fav. bible search engines; just be a good, proper post-modern Christian and make sure you're using God's bible = KJV. Not one time out of some 1,089 chapters is "immortal soul" mentioned.) Of course, sola scriptura is a defiant Protestant idea; Catholics put their Magisterium ahead of the Bible -- much like you put your awe of unidentified "Theologians" ahead of reality.
And "Consolidation"?!!!! Wow. "Looky at me! I got a Rev. Refrigerator and a Deaconate Doggie [or was it a collared cat?]!" Man, you and your ilk MUST be Americans! Money + Time = Value/meaning. Reality is a function of tradition & effectiveness is only possible thru conformity. Milton, Bunyan, and who knows how many other men weren't preachers unless they had seminary. Oh, they couldn't have been anyhow unless their seminary was accredited, (or properly chartered), by our standards.
I can't remember if, according to you, the monastery, seminary and original/Modesto ULC are the same or fragmented with the first two trying to distance themselves from the original. (I read all your redundancies at once, so pardon my confusion). Either way, you don't seem to have grasped the idea that same name doesn't mean the same. Yeah, that can be confusing, so let me clear it up with a similar situation: Federal Reserve, Federal Express and Federal Government are fairly unrelated, despite the "Federal"! (It gets worse: All uses of "Universal _____ Churchl" doesn't mean the Universal LIFE Church!)
And the ULC's a scam because they charge for legal religious-only documents? You haven't seen TBN/DayStar/etc. much, have you? Watched Joel Olsteen on Larry King? Read a seminary catalogue recently?
Nope. With you, it's "That nasty ULC charging $50 for a Metaphysics class!!!? $30 for a D.D.!!!? Rip off! What folks need to do is go to school for 7+ yrs to formally read books in traditional classes for a peice of paper certifying that they have been properly indoctrinated in the truth-of-their-choice!" Ignore the present and repetitive economic situation, forget the fact that God's clear, certain truth is in a state of INCREASED flux, (gay bishops, women ministers, mega-churches, the adaptation of Jesus Seminar/Dead Sea Scrolls teaching, etc); dismiss the fact that the finest thesis says nothing about ones' communication, leadership or pastoral skills. Spend ten$ of thou$and$, get the proper degree, and, in a world of falling denominational memberships and radically untraditional beliefs, HOPE to get a job in the ministry. That's not a scam? (Fact is, what you buy is your choice either way. Is that your problem? Choice?)
Here's something your 'Rev. Westinghouse' should have told you: ANY ordination assures nothing more than 8.5x11 inches of your wall will have less dust on it. A D.D. or Certificate of Title has what meaning and use you make of it, (unless you go outside the law). Butt-buffing a seminary/college seat keeps academics employed; beyond that, nothing is guaranteed. Ditto pew-polishing. There are plenty of BA/BS-holders flipping burgers -- if they're lucky. Why should a legal, religious credential be free or any different than, say, a slightly-more-expensive, marginally more time-consuming life insurance license within the financial services field? (When I got a license, the instructor started out with, "Once you pass the test, you can pretty much forget everything I'm going to teach you." Like insurance/financial services, ordination/ministry is largely OJT, once you know what's legal.)
And, btw, I'm pretty sure doojie repeated asserted that all religion is a scam, or words to that effect. Obviously, if the ULC is a religion, it is a scam in his >opinion
The extremely RIGHT Rev Moi, pastor-general of profound, pithy piety.

Re: The Universal Life Church Is Not a Scam!

:smurf:Lol you guys all crack me up. Some much time and brain ****** spent posting and reposting the same drivel, instead of helping others you all prefer to push it down ppl's throats.

Here's the craic, the one reason I registered on this site and if it points one person in their correct path then Im glad I posted.

I once looked into the ULC (went as far as becoming a reverent in the ULC) after being raised an Irish catholic (the worse kind -devoted), I also looked into Buddism, Islam and many a religion/practise to try and find my calling.

After many a year, a wise man happened to be in my company one night and seen my inner turmoil. He kindly took some time out to try and help me on my personal path thru life and Im eternally grateful.

Here it is;

You are your own God, You make your own decisions and each evening at the end of your day you only answer to one thing, your own conscience.

Try to be a good person, a moral person, a true person. If at the end of the night you can be happy that you hurt nor offended any of your fellow humans/animals who live on this planet then you have indeed enjoyed a nice day!

By all means read the bible, koran or anything else that helps YOU to be happy and fulfilled but accept that these might be the word of a higher being but it was written by man and is prone to all the bad sides/alterations of human kind just like any history books.

If a religion, belief, following or SCAM makes you feel better within then it cant be wrong but remember it cant be wrong for YOU.
Every person is different and every ones soul search is different. We all lead/choose different paths but we all in the end are looking for one real thing. Happiness, contentment, fullfilment, satisfaction etc. I can continue these one word quests but they all have one common goal. TO LIVE AND LET LIVE to any fellow being, person.

I put it to anyone, what God would refuse you eternal happiness if you live by these beliefs and if he did should I really be worshipping him?

Please ppl take out of this what you wish. Im 33 I've only started my journey relatively speaking but Ive been thru enough to know that what makes me happy is what I endevour to chase.

May you all have a wonderful today and a joyful tomorrow. Accept that what is right for you may not necessarily be right for your neighbour but that doesnt mean they are not entitled to be happy with their beliefs.

Take care.
Tom Belfast. Ireland

Last edited by tomkongphooey; 02-10-2011 at 12:52 PM.
Reason: spelling

Re: The Universal Life Church Is Not a Scam!

I can not believe I have read all of this, can I get the couple hours back it took? No? Well...

Lot's of folks writing a lot of nothing, claiming to be their own gods, listing "fact after fact" and not proving anything...I just think that folks get upset at the ULC (the one in Modesto, not the other places) because once you get ordained you can do EVERYTHING that others have wasted 10's of 1000's of dollars on...legally..I find it highly amusing......